PEORIA MAGAZINE October 2023

CORE TENETS The Episcopal faith has two essential sacraments for Christian life: baptism and eucharist. The other sacraments offered are confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent and unction. The Episcopal Church came out of the Anglican faith of England and still has a loose association with it. “Every country gets its own branch of Anglicanism,” said Thomas. “In this country, after the American Revolution, the word Anglican wasn’t going to at tract anybody. There were Americans who wanted to follow the traditions of the church, but nobody wanted to be Anglican anymore. It’s called the Epis copal church, which means ‘overseen by bishops.’” “We put in structures where we elect our bishops,” said Replogle, “which is very American, as opposed to the way things were done in England.” In the church’s spirit of partnerships, this year’s Easter vigil service was a partnership, “with two local churches that love liturgy, but don’t have enough worshippers for their own service, so we did it together,” said Replogle. “Their pastors were at the altar with us. It was great. I mean if we can’t celebrate the resurrection together …” The rectors have brought special worship services to Peoria, including a Blue Christmas service, held on the longest night of the year. “This service is for people grieving or having memories of difficult things at the holidays and they’re surrounded by all the cheer of the holidays,” said Replogle. “It can be a really hard time. So, we want to have a space for that grief and honor all the feelings that people are having.” Each October St. Paul’s has an infer tility and pregnancy loss service. “We have a service that honors the struggles people have around childbearing.”

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, just off Peoria's War Memorial Drive

Christine Barrow, a lifelong member of St. Paul’s, recalls the split as painful for people on both sides of the divide. “St. Paul’s is very inclusive and that’s certainly one of the reasons that I stayed… that and the ordination of wom en,” said Barrow. “I just feel we need to be part of the 21st century. I feel that’s what the church is all about, meeting the needs of people now.” Barrows also is proud of St. Paul’s outreach program. “We are consistently looking outside ourselves to serve the community,” she said. “We’re a fairly small church with some responsibility in a whole city,” said Thomas. “Our reach needs to come from the way we build partnerships with other churches, with like-minded non-profits or for-profit groups and community partners. “What we really need to do is make sure that what we think is God’s work is happening in Peoria,” said Thomas, “and that we are in places where we can express what we think the good news is.” After the split, “we became the only Episcopal parish in Peoria and we needed to figure out what that meant,” said Thomas. “How do we love our neighbors here? St. Paul’s has a long tradition of feeding people through its food pantry,” he said. “A food pantry is great, but it’s mostly sustenance. It doesn’t help people move to a different life situation.” St. Paul’s has partnered with Urban Acres in Peoria’s north valley, a business that raises fresh produce to sell or do nate. The two entities have received a grant for Springboard Kitchen, a com

missary kitchen at 616 Spring Street, for hosting healthy cooking classes for people in the neighborhood and launching small food businesses. “If your dream is to sell something at the farmers market, to make extra money for your family, Springboard is a place to do that legally. It’s all about helping people get to the next level,” said Thomas. Thomas and Replogle are both Episco pal priests, a married couple and parents of son Rowan, 5, and daughter Asher, 2. “Twenty percent of Episcopal clergy are married to each other, though it is uncommon for them to work together in the same parish,” said Replogle. The couple ministers from the belief that God loves you, no exceptions. “People are welcome at St. Paul’s at any point on their spiritual journey,” said Replogle. “It is a common story that people come here after they’ve been hurt by other churches.” The Episcopal faith is steeped in an cient liturgy, which is a draw for dis illusioned Christians of other faiths. “Many people from the Catholic tra dition come here because they love the liturgy but are either LGBTQ or have family members who are, or just know they don’t agree with the church’s stance, including the church’s stance on women’s reproductive rights or any number of things, including women’s ordination,” said Replogle. GOD LOVES YOU, NO EXCEPTIONS

Linda Smith Brown is a 37-year veteran of the newspaper industry, retir ing as publisher of Times Newspapers in the Peoria area

OCTOBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 65